


Fear And Loathing In Hollywood Arts

by Invader_Johnny



Category: Victorious (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:54:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29103624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Invader_Johnny/pseuds/Invader_Johnny
Summary: Jade doesn't listen, she always think she's right but when she's painfully proven wrong, well it's one thing to admit it, it's quite another to do something about it... Jori Endgame.
Relationships: Tori Vega/Jade West
Kudos: 44





	Fear And Loathing In Hollywood Arts

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious, if I did then I would have made it into an animated show and sold the rights to Cartoon Network, at least they don't cancel decent show.
> 
> Author's Note: Ok this is a request a fellow Jori writer who decided to remain anonymous asked for, hope he/she likes it as well as you readers that decided to click the button and read this.
> 
> In order for this fic to work, I'm going to ignore the events of "Begging On Your knees" so yes, Ryder will appear here but not in the way you probably expect.
> 
> So anyways enjoy.

As they age people tend to learn a thing or two.

It's not only the basic rule of life but also the _painful_ reality, everyone must have their own lessons as they walk this world, being easy or hard.

Truthfully, the hardest lessons to learn are usually the ones that really do make an impact in the long run of it all.

One such lesson was that nothing truly lasted forever and there are things that should never _ever_ be take for granted.

Jade learned this time and time again.

When it came to her life, people came and went as frequently as meteors struck the moon.

First her mother left her when she was 6 months old because she passed away, then her father took priority in his work over her, Jade guessed it was simply to avoid the pain of losing his _beloved_ wife so soon and the reality of being a single father was too much for him to deal with.

Then her nanny Jessica left her, taking a much better job offer, out of selfishness and greed, Jade didn't consider it a big loss, but the fact that she left struck a cord at such a young age.

Beck lasted the _**second**_ longest, they were boyfriend and girlfriend for nearly three years but he too was temporary guest in the ride she called her life.

You maybe wondering who lasted the longest?

Well that honor belonged to the one and only Tori Vega who up to very recently tried time and time again to be Jade's friend, not once giving up, from the day they met up to a few months ago.

But the most recent case of someone walking in and out on her would be her now current ex-boyfriend Ryder Daniels.

Over the past few months, she had been completely smithen with him, not because of his looks although Jade admitted it was a plus.

Rather, it was the way he managed to knock her off her feet, he seemed to be one person who accepted every part of her, he was charming and patience towards her, he wasn't judgemental and pointed out her flaws and weird love of dark genre like Beck used to do.

* * *

_Tori however didn't seem to trust him very much or at all and was rather vocal about it, so much so that Jade remembers very well just how frequently the half-Latina got into her love life, often telling her of rumors about Ryder she heard from previous girlfriends who had the misfortune to date him and how he was a two timing douche._

_"Yes Tori I heard those rumors but that's all they are **rumors**!" Jade viciously snarled "Let's not forget they came from previous girlfriends of course they are going to talk shit about him!"_

_"I'm trying to help you Jade!" Tori cried out in desperation "I don't want you to get hurt!"_

_"Then butt out of my love life Vega!" The Goth hissed "I can take care of myself"_

_She made her point by getting a pair of very rusty and sharp scissors out of her purse, menacingly looming them over Tori's head._

_"So I don't need you ruinning a perfectly good thing!" Jade said menacingly "He wants me not you, got it Vega?!"_

_The tanned teen gasped horrified of what she just heard "You honestly think I'm interested in him?!" She asked, part in shock and part in disgust "After what I just told you?!"_

_"Don't play dumb Vega, I mean why_ **_else_ ** _would you try to 'warn me' huh?" Jade asked mockingly. "I'm not blind, I seen the way you look at us when we're having lunch, you obviously want him!"_

_Tori was hurt at the accusation to say the least, the fact that Jade would say such a thing made her feel like her heart broke into a million pieces, the pain was so strong that she didn't even had the strength to tell The Goth that she was not looking at Ryder and if she was she would send him a hateful kind of glare._

_Jade had made her feel like crap before but never at this level._

_The younger teen could feel tears were about to cascade down her cheeks but took a deep breath and restrained herself from letting the tears go._

_Tori did not want to cry in front of her frenemy, so she hastily opened the door of the janitor closet and walked out but not before telling the pale girl one last thing in a rather grim tone "I hope I am wrong about Ryder, Jade because even though I don't like him, much less trust him, I don't want him hurting you but if he does just remember this, I tried to help you"_

_She walked out._

* * *

After that, the friendships she had with the rest if the group became rather tense.

She was on bad terms with Beck and Andre, Cat was the only one who was on talking terms with, most likely because of her inocent personality which made it unlikely to see Ryder in a negative light.

Robbie was not as vocal as Tori but he certainly felt there was something "Not right" about her boyfriend and wisely keep his distance.

Tori avoided being near Ryder and by extension she also avoided being near Jade as well, but the Goth girl could still see the hate in the glare the half-Latina sent to their way.

"Jealous" She sneered.

Needless to say that spent less and less time with her group of friends due to Ryder constantly being with her wherever she was, doing whatever she was doing, and just occupying most of her time.

Robbie was the only one who tried to find solace in the fact that like all high school romances, their relationship probably wouldn't last long enough for anything serious to happen, but Tori was quite the opposite.

Tori tried to make Jade see that he was not being protective of her, he was being _**possessive**_.

_"Please Jade, leave him before he hurts you!"_

_"Fuck off Vega"_

She wanted to run the first time she saw Jade kiss Ryder lovingly and give him a tight hug. Almost as if showing off her relationship to the Latina.

It crushed the tanned girl seeing such affection and Jade was delighted to see that, the thespian believed Tori was so infatuated with this guy, someone she really didn't knew; she was jealous, so green with envy, it was evident in her brown eyes.

_"He's mine Vega"_ Jade mentally hissed _"You can't have him"_

The beginning stages of her and Ryder's relationship was rather simple, he would take her out to places despite her dislike for certain scenarios that seem too romantic for her taste.

She would rather watch movies like the scissoring and "It" something he was not into but relented nonetheless.

Ryder also treated her nicely, being patient with her dark attitude towards everything and showering her attention, the attention she always craved, she loved whatever attention she could get. As a result, she wound up driving away the only other person in the world who willingly gave her that time of day.

The sad part? She didn't realize it until it was too late.

She had forgotten how exciting it was to be in the beginning of a relationship and in remembering that Tori became a forgotten memory in the back of her mind.

Jade however invaded Tori's mind every night.

The two frenemies became nothing more than acquaintance.

Then came that fateful day, not even three months into their relationship, things went sour, Ryder claimed he had things to do every now and then, the two teens spend less time together and he even begin to lie to Jade on his whereabouts but Jade didn't mind, she tried to hard to keep the relationship alive, letting go of Ryder's minor flaws because deep down she didn't want to be alone.

She didn't want to see anyone else leave.

But that changed soon enough because Jade broke off the relationship so fast it was like it was never there.

Deciding to not be a ganky girlfriend for once. the dark teen thought it would spice things up by surprise her boyfriend with take-out and a movie, she had walked into his house, the door being unlocked, right into his living room.

She walked right into the room to witness both of them, Ryder and a girl she has never seen before in various states of undress, breathless and writhing on the floor in what could be described as unmistakable passion, passion that should not occur unless it was between him and her, the girlfriend the rat bastard _supposedly_ adored and loved.

Jade felt so betrayed, so hurt, so used... that she ran out of the household without even shutting the door, leaving what she had originally intended to surprise him with in a crumpled mess on the floor.

As she ran out of Ryder's house in anguish, Jade couldn't help but think one thing.

_"Vega was right"_

* * *

Jade West was a strong girl, it took a lot to made her feel insignificant and weak, but Ryder managed to do just that, his betrayal hurt more than she cared to admit.

She needed to get as far away from the traitor's house as quickly as her car would allow, her mind only wanted one thing, to find someone who would listen to her and be there for her; she quickly ruled out her family.

Jade had no choice but to narrow down her options, first there was Beck but he was in Canada at the moment for summer vacation, then there was Andre but she doubted he would be sympathetic towards her considering he was keeping his distance from her.

Then Cat came to mind but quickly dismissed the thought, her oldest friend was not exactly helpful in these sort of matters, plus she was rather certain she was not welcome at her home since that Puckett girl lived there and would not hesitate to throw her out after the last time she made Cat cry.

There was one person she wanted to run to, she had done so before and always got the help she needed but now? Well she wasn't so sure she could run to the arms of Vega.

Because she was afraid they wouldn't be open.

Pushing down her first instinct, she drove to the closest place she could think of to find someone, and that was Robbie's place, the dork was not exactly experienced in relationships, the fact that he even managed to keep Cat as a girlfriend for this long was nothing short of a miracle.

But she didn't care about that right now, she just needed an ear To listen to her woes.

Driving towards the Shappiro household was the easy part, after all she had been here before.

Not many people knew why she and Robbie were friends to begin with, some assumed they only hung out because of association with Cat while others assumed Robbie was simply Jade's servant and punching bag who she took her misplaced aggression on after a long day but those assumptions couldn't be farther from the truth.

She made her way towards the front door and rang the bell.

Seconds later a man in his mid 50's appeared, recognizing Jade he simply moved aside and let her in.

"Robbie's in his room" The man said without emotion, if Jade didn't already know him she wouldn't have guessed he was Robbie's father.

"Yeah... Thanks"

It was no mistery that Mr Shappiro had no love towards his son and constantly told him he "ruined his life" and that "hasn't smiled since he was born" it certainly explained Robbie's personality, after all being belittled at home can caused some serious self-steem issues.

The fact that his mom is addicted to some form of pills and spends a lot of time lying around in a nearly incoherent state only made it worse for Robbie, specially since she often forgets who he is, or that she even has a son.

Jade is the only one that knows of this since both of them have similar situations with their families and they had a silent agreement to never to talk about their home life to anyone other than themselves.

Silently, Jade made her way towards Robbie's room, seeing the door wide open she cleared her throat, and his eyes immediately darted to her green eyes, the eyes in which tears were finally streaming out of.

Of course Robbie had some aggravation and resentment towards the raven-haired woman, specially since she hasn't been there when he needed her when the time in his house became unbelievably dark but seeing her here, so broken and so vulnerable, he couldn't help feel his heart go out to her.

He pocketed the DVD he was going to watch, at the moment watching a remastered edition of the first Pokemon movie seemed unimportant.

Robbie could see that her knuckles where white... erm... _whiter_ with how tightly she was clutching her car keys in her hand. Jade tried to compose herself, only allowing one or two more tears to fall.

She undoubtedly felt betrayed with the events of the day, but she felt the need to go back to her school family, starting with the boy in front of her.

Robbie chose to pull Jade into the garage, which he knew would be completely vacant of anyone else who would even gave a rat's ass of what Robbie was doing or who he was with.

"So, what happened?" Robbie asked sympathetically. "Did Tori finally get to you?"

She looked up at him in confusion after she placed her keys in her pocket, "Why Tori?" She was confused as to why Tori would even be mentioned; she could guess zbeck or Cat being mentioned but not the tanned girl, after all she hadn't even talked to her in the past months, much less seen her since summer started.

She knew she missed hre the optimistic girl, very much so, but she knew it was her fault for cutting ties with her for a boy.

_"A boy who betrayed me"_

"Never mind," Robbie said, shaking his head of the thought, realizing he was going down the wrong road. "What's wrong, then?"

"Ryder" she started, then sighed, "The asshole cheated on me, and I dumped his sorry ass not even an hour ago."

"Cheated? How?" he queried, curious.

"Why you want yo know?" Jade asked darkly " Are you planning to cheat on Cat?"

"I would never do that!"

"I know you wouldn't" Jade hissed "That's why I'm so fucking mad, I trusted him so much I became blind to his charms!"

"So what are you going to do now?" he asked her, moving on from one sensitive subject to another. "Things are already tense with everyone as it is."

She looked down at her clasped hands in her lap, scratching some of the black nail polish she had on her thumbnail with the other thumb. "I'm going to try and fix things"

"How exactly?".

"By talking to everyone" Jade hissed, she knew that was easier said than done considering she pretty much dumpEd her friends to spend time with her now ex-boyfriend.

"You're actually my first stop"

"Ok then, talk"

"I already did now I gotta go to Vega's house and I am not looking forward to that"

"Why?"

"Because you moron, I'm going to try and beg Vega for her forgiveness. I don't know why I should even try, after the shit I done to her I'm sure she hates me!" She grumbled and sighed yet again, putting her head in her hands, hiding even more tears that were beginning to fall.

Robbie put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly, "Jade, you should never think that Tori hates you"

"Oh? Why shouldn't I?"

"Because she has shown more patience towards you than anyone else I know of!" Robbie cried out "I mean, she tried to warn you time and time again about Ryder, and if I know Tori, she isn't going to hold that against you"

"I know"

"I'm willing to forgive, sure, but I don't think that this whole situation will blow over so easily with Tori, you hurt her Jade, more than you ever did in the past, she has been really hurt over the last several months; ever since you started going out with Ryder"

"Can you not mention his name?" she requested, not moving an inch to look up at him.

"Ok then I'll call him an ass" he continued as if he never even stopped, "She's been very heartbroken recently, you should have seen her last week, she nearly took Trina's head off for trying to sing along in karaoke"

"Oh please tell me she died"

"Sorry to disappoint you but Trina's alive and kicking" Robbie said with a small smile, glad he could see bits of the morbid Jade he knew.

"Damn"

"Bottom line is she misses you like you wouldn't believe."

"She does?"

"Yeah she does but she's too stubborn to even admit that, though, she doesn't want to make the first move to try and reconcile things; she's sick and tired of always going to see you, if you want to fix this, I think this time, _you_ need to see _her_ "

"Of course." Jade snarled "I just have to crawl back to Vega, don't I?"

"You shouldn't have come to me first," he said suddenly, glancing at her over his glasses.

"Oh?"

"I know you wanted to cool off, but you should've went directly to her, after all she was the one who tried to warn you, she begged you to listen and never stopped"

"Shappiro you know very well my relationship with Vega is quite horrible" she started "I've done some fucked up things to that girl from day one, but this one takes the cake."

"What do you mean?"

"I've basically demolished my relationship with the one person who really put my wellbeing over her own!" Jade started to rant "A person who loves me for who I truly am over a guy who ended up only screwing with me!"

"Wait... Tori loves you?"

Jade glared daggers at the boy "Don't play stupid Shappiro" She hissed dangerously "I know u know that, you basically said so not five minutes ago! The only reason I know it's because Cat told me!"

_That was the reason why she made Cat cry, she didn't believe the redhead... At first._

"Really?"

She nodded "Really... God how is it that Cat saw that Tori liked me but I was too blind to see it?! Damn it, I wound up messing everything up with how I acted towards her"

"I don't think that everything's messed up," Robbie replied somberly, patting her on the shoulder in comfort. "You still have a chance. You said it yourself, she loves for who you are"

Looking up at him, she felt a bit of hope but that feeling went away for one reason, "The thing is I don't know how I feel about her, I mean do I like her as a friend or do I like her as something more?"

"Guess you won't know until you take a chance"

"Then... I should go over to her house and try and talk to her?" she asked tentatively, running a hand through her dark locks, a habit that she hasn't used in a while since Ryder didn't like it.

By doing it, she was basically removing a bit of his influence on her.

"I think you should" Robbie said, checking the window he noticed it was getting dark, assuming Jade wanted to go to Tori's house as soon as possible, he asked "You ok to drive?"

"I drove here, didn't I?" she asked, wiping her eyes again, hoping to herself that she didn't look like an absolute horror show.

"That's true," he agreed, then stood. "Good luck, Jade"

"I'll be needing it," she said, getting up as well. The Goth quickly gout out of the room but not before telling Robbie that they will eventuslly make up for lost time not just with him but with everyone.

Afterwards she left the house and sat in her car for a good ten minutes but the night was getting darker and did not want to waste anymore time so she head over in the direction of the Vega household. She knew the way by heart, she normally felt as if she was on autopilot whenever she was in the area. It was always so easy to find her, specially when she needed help, in truth she could probably drive to Tori's house blindfolded even if they hadn't seen each other in months.

As soon as she made it to her destination, Jade got out of her car, almost forgetting to lock it, she walked to the front door and open it, it she could always count of the Vegas never locking their front door.

Jade noticed that no one was in the living room and without further ado she made her way towards Tori's room, hoping that the girl she wanted to talk to _was_ home.

_"This is it"_

Gathering every single ounce of courage she had in her body, she knocked.

"Go away Trina!"

_"She's here"_ Jade thought with some relief, she hated to have come all this way for nothing.

"Vega?"

There was no movement inside the room at first, but after about thirty seconds, the door swung open to reveal Tori Vega in all her glory, well glory was a lose word, she actuslky was in a pair of pink pajamas and her hair in a bun, Jade didn't like that, she preferred Tori's hair lose.

Tori stared at Jade with quizzical eyes, and furrowed eyebrows.

"Jade? What are you doing here?" She asked "More importantly _how_ did you get in?"

Taking a deep, steadying breath, she ignored the second question and asked one of her own, "Can I please talk to you? Maybe... come in?"

Tori stepped out of the way without a word, allowing the Goth to enter the room. After she walked in, Tori shut the door behind her to secure privacy Even thought Jade was pretty certain no one else was in the house, so she guessed it was a forced of habit than anything else.

Jade was happy she was even allowed in Tori's room, it was not something great but she was not complaining, it was after all a small step to an eventual leap forward.

"What are you doing here Jade?" Tori asked again, with a bit more force, Jade noticed.

"Well Vega. I came here to tell you something and to give you a long, overdue apology. Which do you want to hear first?"

"What do you _need_ to tell me?"

The use of the word _need_ rather than _want_ was not lost to the thespian, she was fairly certain that Tori wasn't going to take any kind of bullshit... Not this time.

Eye contact was a struggle For the pale woman, so after taking another deep breath, she said, "You were right about Ryder, he was a total asshole"

Expecting Tori to show her sympathy and maybe give her a hug, Jade was undoubtedly surprised when she received a cutting reply instead.

"Oh, gee, I'm terribly sorry," Tori said, her words dripping with heavy sarcasm. "Are you expecting a pity party?"

"No, I'm not," Jade muttered, her tone never changing. "I wanted to tell you What happened, why I'm here and more...You were right all along, and I'm a fucking idiot for not believing you... I should have... I mean you never done anything to hurt me before... So why start now?"

"That's what I told you before" Tori snapped.

"I know but I guess I had to find out for myself" Jade said somberly "I also wanted to come tell you the facts before you heard it from anyone else Or you might hear something that isn't true... For all I know after this Ryder might make himself the victim"

"You think so?"

"After what I saw today?, Yeah I do"

"So what exactly happened?"

"I walked into his house, the door being unlocked, to find them both doing it like animals, I dropped everything I had in my hands and ran out without looking back. I sped off, and then I... well... I went to go and think things out, and I felt like I should come to see you."

"What good is anything I'd have to say important to you _now_?" Tori asked viciously, "I mean the damaged has been done, which is something I wanted to avoid!"

"I know"

"Well obviously you _**didn't**_!" She snapped "Otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation right now!"

Jade winced, she knew Tori was right.

"All this time all I wanted was to be your friend Jade... To look out for you because I wanted to believe that underneath that bitter twisted thing you call a soul there was a caring person waiting to come out"

"Do you still believe that?" The thespian asked in a small tone.

"Frankly by this point Jade, I'm not even sure if I want to try and be your friend anymore"

Now Jade couldn't bare to look at her, truth be told, the simple thought of Tori not trying anymore her her... For _them,_ scared her a bit.

"You... You can't possibly mean that" Her voice shrunk to an even smaller size, "I was wrong Tori and I wish I could go back and believe you so that I hadn't wasted all that time with that son of a bitch."

"I'm sorry" Tori said with a soft sigh "I'm just so _**angry**_ Jade, you're right... I didn't mean it but that doesn't change that things between us have gone downhill"

The pale thing lowered her head in shame "I know"

"Can you look at me?"

In a second, green eyes darted to meet brown ones, "I'm sorry."

"Are you really?"

"I made the biggest mistake of my life by dating that asshole, and even a bigger one by not believing you, do you know that?"

Tori said nothing to that.

"I jumped at the chance of a new relationship because I didn't want to be alone and in the process I wound up driving you away... _you_ , the one person who never gave up on me and that was the worse thing I could ever have made. I just wanted you to get of my case... Maybe push a few of your buttons, but I never wanted to sent you away... I never wanted you to stop trying... I guess, in a way, I took you for granted I figured you would always come back and when you didn't try to stop me from seeing him anymore, well it sucked"

_"God, I'm such a hypocrite!"_

Her eyes began to water at the thought, and she continued, "So here's my apology as well as my confession: I would give anything to rewind my life and to get the last several months back, but I know that won't happen. All I ask is that you don't hate me... because I, well, I..." she trailed off, a hot tear rolling down her cheeks.

"You... What?" Tori asked after the period of silence, her heart clenching at the sight, she _hated_ to see Jade cry.

"I hate crying!" Jade admitted absentmindedly. She felt that crying was the biggest form of weakness and vulnerability there was, and she hated to do it As much as she hated the word panties. But at the same time she didn't care to do it right now because she felt safe to do it in front of Tori and not be seen as "weak"

"Don't be," The half-Latina said, moving over and reached for a box of tissues on her night stand and held them out for her, "Here."

Tori realized long ago that she would always have a caring side towards Jade West even if they were fighting.

Jade pulled two of the tissues out of the box and dabbed at her eyes, "I don't know what I would do without you Vega"

Tori narrowed her eyes, she had heard Jade say that before, first to Beck, then to Ryder, she knew what it really meant.

"You're just saying that because you want a rebound fling, isn't that right? You just want me to console you in your hour of need and then it'll be over, right?"

That struck a nerve, _hard_.

"What?" her green eyes widened as she looked at Tori with both shock and hurt. "Do you honestly think I'm _that_ cold?"

"Well you haven't exactly given me a good reason to believe otherwise and I refuse to be a rebound from your failed relationship, _Jade_ ," she stated very clearly, now turning back to her.

"That's not what I'm doing!"

"I love you Jade" Tori admitted, but that wasn't news to Jade, she already knew that, but certainly was a different matter when she heard it straight from the Latina's mouth.

"The only reason to be in a relationship with someone is if you have true, honest-to-God feelings nothing more, nothing less. You can't just force something that's not there and you can't just try and worm your want into it to see if the pieces fit. You have to _feel_ it, and I feel it Jade! I'm still _feeling_ it... The question here is... Do you?"

Jade said nothing to that, wisely deciding to stay quiet as the girl in front of her continued to rant.

Her voice picked up momentum as She walked around the room "I felt it, with _you_ , and I swore to God that maybe, just maybe, you fcould feel the same fucking way! But _no_ , as my damn luck would have it, you go off with some jerk who I couldn't even stand, who I knew wasn't right for you, leaving me to be forgotten. And now when things go to hell you come back saying you dont know what you would do without me? That's a big a declaration of love as I'm going to get from you and you know it, I know it, the pigeons shitting in my sister's car know it!"

Jade could only stare wide eyed as the girl in front if her shouted out her feelings,nit was quite unnerving to say the least.

"Oh and to top it all if you come here today of all days... The day _of_ breaking it off with this bastard and you expect me to just open my arms and welcome you back with a hug, a kiss, and a declaration of how things will be better now?! To _you_... the girl who pushed me out of her life when she, at the time, was _my_ life?"

"I... I... Tori I didn't know you felt this way, at first I thought you wanted him... Not me and I'm sorry"

"Yeah, you said that"

"Do you believe me?"

"Despite everything, yeah I do think your sorry, God knows why!"

"So... What now?"

"before anything I want you to know that I never ignored you for months on end, did I?"

"No, you didn't."

"So tell me... What did you have to gain from doing that?"

"Absolutely nothing." The tears began to fall again, and she wanted nothing more to be wrapped up in Tori's arms. She missed being hugged by her "It's one of my biggest regrets."

"What's the biggest?" She asked, even now wanting to go over and give her a hug despite the fact that her brain was demanding her not to but her heart said the contrary.

"Never considering your feelings, never listening to you and how I wasted all these years being a bitch to you... When we could have been friends but most importantly how I lost whatever chance I had with you," she said softly, then wiped her eyes. "All for that fucking asshole who wound up turning around and stabbing me in the back"

"You weren't really falling for him, were you?" Tori asked, terrified to find out the type of answer she might receive.

"Actually, after our relationship started to decay... no, I wasn't falling. I liked him, sure, but I never felt anything else for him"

"It killed me to see you turn your back on me so easily," Tori said softly, then took a step closer to her. "But it kills me even more to see you this unhappy."

"You never gave up on me did you?"

Tori smiled "Never"

She then gels out her arms for Jade tentatively, unsure if she would take his advance for a hug. She looked up at her and looked at her now extended arms. "Come on," she urged gently " Squeeze me squeeze me tight!"

Without a second thought Jade then completed the hug, leaning her head on her shoulder.

_"I missed this"_ They both thought at the same time.

AFter several minutes they broke the hug.

"It's all right if you don't want me in your life anymore; I'll understand if you want nothing more to do with me and hate me. We can say our goodbyes now and you'll never have to see me again," Jade said softly, not wanting that to happen, but not wanting to appear too clingy, as well.

Tori spoke softly but firmly, "Firstl of all I still am upset, but not as much as I was before. I will eventually get over it. Secondly, I could never hate you; despite my brain telling me one thing, my heart says another, and the heart is never wrong. Lastly...I think you made the right decision."

"What do you mean?" Jade replied, "How did I make the right decision?"

"By coming clean about everything to me even when there was the possibility I could've kicked you out, and you dumped that asshole. That, and you came back to me. I missed you. I don't want to sound too girly only for you to ruin the moment or anything, but I just think that's the truth."

After a few minutes of silence, she asked, "Can you make me a promise?"

"Fire away" Jade replied, She didn't realize how close they were to each other or that they were holding hands.

"Never push me away again"

"I promise." She couldn't break her gaze with the you nger girl for the life of her; there were a couple times before this where she was drawn in. She loved this feeling and she never wanted to let it go. There was such a conflict of emotions in her; firstly, she dealt with the heartbreak of her, now, ex-boyfriend cheating on her, but then at the same time, her heart was trying to mend itself quickly feeding off of Tori's love for her and that look in her eyes.

"I don't ever want to lose you," Tori whispered softly. "I know not everything will be perfect, or at all, between us, but I want to try. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow... but someday, and maybe someday soon."

As soon as Tori said that, she felt a pair of lips on her's, the shock of it never made Tori think of returning the kiss but she didn't need to, Jade already knew she loved her, she didn't need to be reassured of that.

After several seconds Jade parted her lips from Tori's.

With the small smile still remaining on her face, she said, "Thank you for not giving up on me... And for being you throughout this mess. I know I can count on you for anything."

She was stunned. "So, uh, _what_ was that about?" Tori asked, in regards to the kiss.

Jade blushed, "I just wanted to show you how appreciative I am of everything you've given to me as well as how much you mean to me. And I know nothing I do is ever going to be enough to show how sorry I am with the way I treated you but if you let me I want the chance to make up for it... A chance to try"

"Try what?" Tori honestly wanted to try and kiss her again, but she composed herself and waited patiently for an answer.

"Us," Jade stated as if it was as plain as day, as if it was the most common thing to talk about. "God Vega I knew you were slow but not this much!"

"Hey!"

The chuckled the Thespian gave made it clear she was just teasing.

Tori was happy to see a part of Jade she missed for so long.

"And if you believe I'm really trying to make you out at the rebound guy... _Girl_ , we can wait a while I'll be fine with that. I have been for a while, and I won't mind it if you're uncomfortable with the idea right now."

"Okay," That's all Tori could say, she honestly saw validity in that, she figured there was no need to push a relationship with Jade, she should savor the moments to come.

"Thank you," she said, meaning it for real, running a hand through her hair, clearing her throat while doing so. "I should get going, though. Call me later?"

Tori nodded in response.

She turned to leave as the tanned girl began to say, "You know, for the record, I don't like to see you this unhappy"

"I'm not... Not anymore Vega" Jade said with a small smile

"That's good but so help me _God_ , if I see that asshole anywhere, I'm beating the shit out of him for what he did to you!"

"Vega, you can't even beat a twelve year old" She deadpans.

"I don't care!"

This guy proved that he was a Grade-A asshole and he deserved to get stomped on, even in the least sense of the word. For anyone that hurt her Jade they deserved to be hurt themselves, not get off scott-free.

"I mean it Vega, you're not doing anything"

"But..."

"Ah!" Jade yelled with a raised hand "I'm only looking out for you like you did with me, he's stronger than you and I don't want you near him"

"Fine"

"That's my girl"

"So what do you have planned?"

Jade sent Tori an evil smile "You'll see"

And she left with a vengeful plan in mind.

two days later Ryder was humilliated at the Moonlight Jam and had to switch school since girls at Hollywood Arts catched up to his cheating ways.

That did him little good since Tori uploaded Jade's performance to YouTube, making it impossible for Ryder to get a girlfriend.

Two months later Tori borrowed Trina's car For a date with Jade.

The next day Trina had to clean it three times in-arrow.

_"I'm never letting Tori borrow my car again!"_

**Author's Note:**

> Author Notes: Well I hope you all liked this monster of a story, took me a while to write but definitely worth it, I sure hope I didn't make Jade too much OOC.
> 
> I actually wanted to puke when I pared Jade up with Ryder but I needed someone to be a villain and still keep it canon in some way, I couldn't use the train main guys because Beck is too much of a good guy and I don't think he would hurt Jade, Andre is Tori's best friend and I didn't think it would be possible for him to go after Jade since in my mind he would be the first to know of Tori's crush on her and there is no chance in hell that Robbie would ever have a shot with Jade, am I right?
> 
> Speaking of Robbie, for those of you who have read the comic book "Squee" by Jhonen Vasquez you probably would notice the reference I made to the comic by using Robbie's parents and parallels to Squee's parents since in the show it's clear that Robbie's folks don't like him, I just made it seem a bit darker.
> 
> Plus I always thought there was a reason as to why Jade and Robbie were friends to begin with and I think that having similar upbringings is a good an explanation as any, wouldn't you agree?
> 
> Anyways, your thoughts?
> 
> Invader Johnny Signing Off.


End file.
